Title: 👩🏻‍💻3.3. What is Online Gender-Based Violence?
Course: "Our networks, our security" Digital Security with a Gender Perspective > Section: Module 3. Identifying Common Threats: Online Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls

In recent years, significant advances have been made at both the national and international levels in defining online gender-based violence against women and girls.

In the Americas, the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) have defined it as:

“Any action or behavior against woman and based on her gender that causes death, physical, sexual, or psychological harm, economic or symbolic suffering in any area of her life, which is committed, instigated, or aggravated in whole or in part with the assistance of information and communication technologies.”

Based on this definition, we can identify six basic elements of online gender-based violence against women

The primary victims of these forms of violence are women and girls, who are targeted due to their gender.

This violence has specific consequences for female victims due to social norms and expectations regarding their behavior and appearance, and disproportionately affecting them. The victims experience multiple psychological, physical, sexual, or economic harms that coincide with the damages of offline violence.

This is not an isolated phenomenon; it is present and part of a context of gender discrimination and systematic violence against women. This violence has an intrinsic connection to the system of domination and gender inequality that exists outside the internet, which now leverages new platforms and technological tools to extend its reach.

This is an open and dynamic term. It encompasses a wide variety of violent practices and harmful and/or offensive behaviors facilitated or reconfigured by ICTs, which can eventually constitute different cybercrimes or illegal acts that warrant civil or criminal liability according to various national legislation.

This is an open and dynamic term. It encompasses a wide variety of violent practices and harmful and/or offensive behaviors facilitated or reconfigured by ICTs, which can eventually constitute different cybercrimes or illegal acts that warrant civil or criminal liability according to various national legislation. Online gender-based violence can be facilitated by algorithms and technological devices, such as mobile and smartphones, tablets, computers, global positioning systems (GPS), audio devices, cameras, or virtual assistants.

It can also occur on a wide variety of internet platforms, such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok), email services, instant messaging applications (WhatsApp), dating apps (Tinder, Grindr, Hinge, Match.com), online video games, content-sharing sites (like Reddit), online discussion forums (in the comment sections of newspapers), or on user-generated platforms (wikis, blogs, image-sharing sites).

Online violence violates fundamental human rights and freedoms of women and girls, undermining their full and effective participation in economic, social, cultural, and political affairs.

Some of the human rights that could be affected by online-gender based violence are:

- Right to equality and non-discrimination
- Right to live a life free from violence
- Right to personal integrity
- Right to self-determination
- Freedom of expression
- Right to access information
- Freedom of assembly and association
- Privacy and protection of personal data
- Protection of honor, reputation, and sexual and reproductive rights

If you'd like to learn more about online gender-based violence, I invite you to review the following resources:

- Report “Cyber Violence and Cyber Harassment against Women and Girls in the Framework of the Belém do Pará Convention” CIM, MESECVI, and UN Women.
- Report from the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women on Online Violence (PDF)
- Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls by the European Institute for Gender Equality (PDF)
- Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls: A Global Call to Action by the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development (PDF, English)
- Digital Violence is Real by TEDIC (web)

Highlighted Resource:

I also invite you to check out the publication by the OAS Cybersecurity Program and CIM titled “Online Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls. A Guide to Basic Concepts, DIGITAL SECURITY Tools, and Response Strategies.”

To view the guide, click 👉here.